While news of Village Voice vet Michael Musto getting the axe was a shock to many, the man himself knew there was trouble ahead. When EIC Will Bourne and deputy editor Jessica Lustig were on their way out the door, one of them told Musto that he needed to worry. “I knew I was on the chopping block,” he told Mediabistro for its latest So What Do You Do? interview.

Yet, while “La Dolce Musto” may have ended, the show goes on with “Musto! The Musical!” and other fantastic things:

When it got onto Gawker.com that I was going to be laid off and the word was out, I didn’t have to pitch myself. People started coming to me. So, by the end of the week, I had lined up all this stuff. It was only on contingency, because I thought the Voice might keep me on in some capacity — the rumor was that I was going to be a Web-only [columnist] — and I was prepared to work that out with them. But it turned out to be a complete layoff, so I was able to take these other opportunities.

For more, read So What Do You Do, Michael Musto, Entertainment and Gossip Columnist?

When The New York Times Company decided to put The Boston Globe up for sale, the list of rumored buyers almost immediately ballooned to about 700. Now, according to the Globe, that list has dwindled to seven.

With the June 27 deadline to submit offers looming, the following groups have emerged as likely buyers:

• Jack Griffin and two members of the Taylor family
• Former Globe president Rick Daniels and Heb Ryan
• The Kraft Group, owner of the New England Patriots
• Revolution Capital Group, a LA-based private equity firm
• Najafi Cos., owners of the Phoenix Suns
• Douglas Manchester, owner of the U-T San Diego
• John J. Gormally Jr., Gormally Broadcasting

The Times company is looking to sell its New England Media Group, which includes the Globe and its web presence, but also The Worcester Telegram & Gazette and its site, the Globe’s direct mail business, and an almost 50 percent ownership of Metro Boston.

The Times bought the Globe in 1993 for $1.1 billion. The offers from the buyers listed above are expected to range between $70 and $120 million. That’s uh, close!

[Image: Newseum]

There’s plenty of newspaper hate going around lately, but as Ad Age reports, some cities still have love for the archaic things. A report by Scarborough — a market research company — found that newspaper readership isn’t evenly divided across the nation, and is at its highest in the Northeast.

The data showed that Pittsburgh is the best city for a print newspaper, with 51 percent of people saying they read the paper at least once per day. [Editor's note: I'm from Pittsburgh, so f*ck yeah! Also, go Steelers.] This is much higher than the national average, which is only 35 percent. Albany was tied for second with Hartford/New Haven, with 49 percent reading a print paper daily. Rounding out the top five cities for print papers was another tie, between New York, Toledo and Buffalo, all at 47 percent.

The worst city for a print newspaper was Atlanta, with only 23 percent of adults claiming to read one each day. If you know someone from there, go ahead and slap them.

Salaheddin Barhoum and Yassine Zaimi — the two people The New York Post stupidly labeled “Bag Men” and wrongly suspected Boston Marathon bombing suspects — are suing the newspaper for libel. We figured it was only a matter of time, considering shortly after the incident, Barhoum’s father lawyered up.

According to The Boston Globe, the court filing against the tabloid explains, “The front page would lead a reasonable reader to believe that plaintiffs had bombs in their bags, that they were involved in causing the Boston Marathon bombing,” which then subjected Barhoum and Zaimi to “scorn, hatred, ridicule, or contempt in the minds of a considerable and respectable segment of the community.”

The pair are accusing the Post of libel, but also “negligent infliction of emotional distress,” and invasion of privacy.

Barhoum and Zaimi seek damages and an unknown monetary compensation. We hope they’re asking for a lot and they get every penny.

The Washington Post just unveiled more details about its paywall, but unfortunately, it doesn’t matter. Paywalls or not, a report from PriceWaterHouseCoopers says newspaper revenue is going to keep declining, through at least 2017.

It’s the same problem that has been around for years: Digital as sales will increase, but not enough to offset the loss of print ad sales. Ad Age reports that between this year and 2017, digital ads are expected to grow by a little under 10 percent. However, print ads are predicted to plummet during that same time, by about eight percent.

“There are some very positive signs about the resilience of the industry, but a lot of that lost revenue won’t necessarily come back,” Greg Boyer, of PricewaterhouseCoopers, told Ad Age.

We have to admit, Colin Myler, the editor-in-chief of The New York Daily News, is calling things like he sees them. In an interview with Capital New York, Myler discussed how he was remaking the tabloid in his vision.

Perhaps you’ve noticed that the Daily News seems more celeb heavy than in years past? This is Myler’s doing. Maybe you’ve even clicked on items like “PHOTOS: Boom, boom pow! Fergie shows off baby bump.” And maybe, just maybe, you hated yourself for doing so. Myler says those dumb stories wouldn’t be there if Daily News readers didn’t enjoy it:

If you look at our readers and the amount of TV they watch, most of that TV is light. It’s the Kim Kardashian phenomenon. Some people will regard this as being irrelevant and inane, but we’re doing no more than reflecting lifestyles in terms of what our readers watch on TV, whether its ‘Entertainment Tonight’ or ‘Access Hollywood.’ It seems sometimes the paper is criticized for that.

We give him points for being blunt.

The timing of Anthony Weiner’s announcement that he was running for mayor might have prevented the New York Post and New York Daily News from punning the hell out of the city yesterday, but today the paper’s did their best to bring it. The only question is which Weiner headline is better?

We do like “spanks” better than “beats,” but FishbowlNY gives the win to the Post because it added “…Then goes limp.” Two puns in six words is strong work.

Some drama occurred recently when Deborah Needleman, editor of T: The New York Times Style Magazine, said she considered adding some fat to a cover model she thought was too thin. Naturally some people were outraged, because they apparently have never picked up a magazine. Margaret Sullivan, the Times’ public editor, followed up on the situation, and found that the Times holds fashion photos to a different standard than news photos.

Michele McNally, the Times’ assistant managing editor for photography, explained, “Fashion is fantasy. Readers understand this. It’s totally manipulated, with everything done for aesthetics.” Philip Corbett, associate managing editor for standards, added, “This is a different genre of photography [than news]. It has different goals, different tools and techniques, and there is a different expectation on the part of the reader.”

In other words: Don’t be an idiot. Of course fashion photos are altered. If you’re upset by this, consider taking photos meant to sell material goods a little less seriously.

Yahoo! buying Tumblr is a big deal, so The New York Times went all out with its coverage today. There’s a piece about Yahoo! moving into the old Times building on 43rd Street, but the most noticeable piece is in the Business section. There Times readers can find a giant replica of a Tumblr dashboard, complete with headlines and articles about the acquisition. It’s a cool and creative way to discuss the news.

There’s also a photo in the dashboard of Marissa Mayer laughing with David Karp (Tumblr’s founder and really, really rich dude). Oh, and on A1, the Times ran a piece about how Karp dropped out of school.

He was still home schooled though! So you know, do your homework, kids.

[Image: Tumblr, duh]

The New York Daily News and The New York Post both used the same photo to illustrate the devastation left by the tornado that hit Oklahoma yesterday. Ironically, though the captured moment is extremely sad, the woman carrying the child conveys hope.

If you’re wondering how you can help the tornado victims, here’s a nice roundup.